


Severus Foreverus/Goblet of Fire

by EliLeFey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-14 17:14:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4572897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliLeFey/pseuds/EliLeFey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jumping ahead in the story, this is the only scene with the main characters of HP.  Only Neville will be seen again.  Eli attends Hogwarts Yule Ball with Severus, who is witnessed smiling when in her company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dragons Are Not Toys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeanne-Marie leads the dragons to rebel against being used as entertainment, in clear violation of their rights as free magical creatures.

 

Eli had no intention of attending the Trials. She loathed crowds, didn’t want to deal with any of the “Ministry Clown Covens” and agreed with Jeanne-Marie that it was wrong to exploit dragons as one of the trials. She found it insufferable that the dragons were not asked for consent, but were forced to participate.

When Victor Krum used the Conjunctivitis spell during his trial, causing the Chinese Fireball, whose dragon name translated to Mei Ling, to crush half her eggs, Jeanne-Marie went ballistic. She summoned Eli to help her calm the other dragons, who, as mothers themselves, sympathized with Mei Ling and as a result, all of them were upset and acting out.

  
“Of course they are mad at those stupid Terrans!” she snarled. “I need some help calming them down, and you speak Dragon, so come to their enclosure in the Forest.”

Eli saddled up Yojimbo and went to the Forest. The Terran dragon wranglers were all huddled at a safe distance from the enclosures. Jeanne-Marie was with Mei Ling, and she told Eli to join her. Both of them spoke to the dragon, whose eyes were covered. She turned her massive head to Eli, who put her hand on the dragon’s forehead. “She can’t even cry because of what that horrid boy did to her,” Jeanne-Marie said. “Would you give her this potion and give her these eye drops? I’ll go try and calm down the others, before they make some Terran Toast. And then these gits will execute them.”

 

Jeanne-Marie went to the Hungarian Horntail, who was  the most agitated. “Younger Sister, would you show this lady your spirit?”

  
Eli nodded, and produced her dragon patronus, which flew around the dragons, who were amused by it. Jeanne-Marie went to the Horntail and spoke to her at length. The dragon was angry at the Terrans who were using them as toys, and Jeanne-Marie agreed with her. It was clear that the Horntail, whose name was Tűztáncosokkal, spoke for the other dragons. Blodau Tân, the Welsh Green, and Vacker Krigare, the Swedish short snout, agreed that the only way to make this right was to release all of them from custody, to be allowed back to their native ranges, and never used as entertainment for the “puny furless two leggers” ever again.

 

Eli opened her mind to Mei Ling, and felt the dragon’s grief over her lost eggs. She gently removed the bandages from the dragon’s eyes, put the soothing lotion on them, and gave the dragon the pain relieving potion. She stroked the dragon’s face, speaking in a soft voice, as Hagrid approached the pen. Mei Ling smelled him, and tensed up. Eli put her forehead to the dragon’s skull, and whispered to her.

  
“You can come in, Hagrid, I told her you were not like the others.”

  
Hagrid entered the pen and cautiously approached them.

  
“Sit here next to me and give me your hand.”

Eli took Hagrid’s hand and put her other hand on the dragon’s forehead. “Let’s see if I can do this” and spoke a spell.

  
Hagrid felt a tingling go up his arm to his brain. Slowly he began to hear Mei Ling’s thoughts, and could feel her enter his mind. She sniffed him up and down, and he felt her communicate “Friend.”

  
He began to cry as he felt her sorrow over her lost eggs.

  
“Now try it without me.”

  
Hagrid put his hand on her forehead. He could feel her thoughts, as she rested her head in his lap.

Charlie Weasley watched from behind a tree near the pen. He’d never considered the feelings of the dragons he’d worked with. The more he thought about it, the more sympathetic he became to the dragon’s plight. They were captives. They had been hunted mercilessly over the years, until they were one of the most endangered species on the planet. It wasn’t their fault most of their ranges had been taken over by humans.

  
He agreed with Jeanne-Marie and the Horntail. It was not proper to use dragons like this, in what amounted to a blood sport. They didn’t consent. He watched Hagrid caress the dragon, ashamed to admit he’d never even knew they had names. Never even thought about it. He fell in love with the Faerie woman. But he knew that he would he would never have a chance with her, and his mother hated Faeries, and the Morgans, and Eli le Fey in particular. He didn’t know why, and his father wouldn’t tell him anything.  
Fang ambled up, snuffled Hagrid, then yawned and lay down to sleep, between the eggs and Hagrid. He held his finger to his lips, mouthing the words, “she’s asleep.” Eli nodded, got up and summoned Yojimbo, who trotted up. She took out the food and drink she had in her saddle bags, and took down the bedroll. She touched Hagrid’s forehead.

  
_[are you going to stay with her?]_

  
He nodded. She put the balm and the potion jar next to him.

  
_[I’ll be back tomorrow at first light]_

Eli left the pen with Yojimbo, and they left the Forest with Severus.

  
Charlie realized he was jealous of Hagrid. He wished the dragons would like him that much.

  
Draco Malfoy, who had been spying with a viewing glass and camera from a distance, wanted to meet the Faerie women who talked to dragons. He wondered how close Snape was to Eli. But he somehow realized that Snape would not talk about Eli to him or anyone else. Snape never discussed his personal life. He watched as his professor and the Faerie warrior walked along the lakeshore, deep in conversation, as the horse walked behind them. Neither of them looked very happy, and he wondered what they were talking about.

 

Severus was talking about the disturbing things happening on campus. He asked her to try and keep an eye on Neville, on the astral plane, because Harry was taking all of his time and attention.

  
“I miss being with you, but I can’t take my eyes off that boy for a minute now, there are too many enemies within striking distance.”

  
“Ugh. Well, I suppose I could come to you here at night, much as I don’t want to . .. I just don’t like being here. Got a lot of bad memories and the future is looking really grim.” She sighed. “Don’t say it, I ‘knew the job was dangerous when I took it.’”

  
“It sounds like a fun trip.”

  
“You gotta be kidding me. We’ll be flying way up there, almost at the edge of space, and it’s freaking COLD up there, even with the thermostat on the dragon turned all the way up, I’ll need extra oxygen . ..gotta play chicken with all those junk satellites and military aircraft. I’ve got cloaking devices and all that, but it’s annoying. Once we get there it will be fine. We’re going to a the base of the Himalayas, there is a zone that has been used for centuries, with wards, protective spells, by the people of the temples, I met many of them during the war. It’s a valley between mountains so rugged the muggles still haven’t gotten anyone near them. They are overjoyed to have a dragon come back.”

  
“Older Sister sure is good finding creatures homes”

  
“Oh, yeah, like father, always taking in strays, then getting them where they need to be. It’s a gift.”

  
“Yeah, like me,” Severus said, and squeezed her hand. “Stop by in a couple of hours, would you?  Take the floo to my quarters.”

  
“Sure.”

 

Eli jumped on Yojimbo’s back and rode back to the Farm.

The next morning Eli went to the dragon’s pen before dawn. Mei Ling, Hagrid, and Fang were still curled up together. She quietly brought out the food and jug of coffee she’d packed. She conjured a small Hestia’s fire, suspended the jug over it, and waited for them to wake up. Fang was the first. His nose began to twitch when Eli brought the food out. He got up immediately, shook himself, and ambled over to Eli, leaning on her shoulder and giving her his best “I am starving” look.

 

Charlie Weasley came by with the dragon’s breakfast as Hagrid got up. Eli handed each of them a mug of coffee.

  
“She has to keep her bandages on another day, so I’ll feed her by hand,” Hagrid said. “If you could send word to the Beastmaster of Durmstang, if he could take my students today for me? I would like to stay with Mei Ling until she’s ready to go home. If no one minds, of course.”

  
Eli and Charlie smiled. “Of course not,” Eli said. “Older Sister trusts you. I’ll go find Nikolai and ask him to cover for you. How often do you get a chance to nurse a dragon?” She and Yojimbo left. “I’m going to see if I can find Firenze,” she said as she left. She ran along side him, she knew Centaurs hated to see horses being ridden.

  
Firenze didn’t have much time for her that day. The stars were saying things no one wanted to know. This would be a time of great suffering, and most of the Centaurs were adamant about not getting involved. “They won’t listen to us anyway,” Firenze said, “And they hate you Faeries for always being right about the errors of their ways. I will see what I can do.”

 

Eli rode back to the dragon’s pen and she and her sister rode their horses to the Farm and then to Avalon to collect the gear needed for the flight.

  
“Mei Ling is in good hands,” Jeanne-Marie said. “Hagrid is a good hand with the creatures, not so much so with humans.”

  
Eli collected the antigravity pods for the saddle and egg container, to lighten the load at high altitudes, a flying suit and full face helmet with O2 crystals. The Ovates made a custom fitted aerodynamically egg container with temperature control. She had always been a nervous high altitude flyer, and her sister liked to tease her about it.  
Of course, Jeanne-Marie’s animagus was a Phoenix, and she flew alongside any creature of the air with ease.

  
The Environmental Elementals of the Pacific Rim Authority sent a formal demand that the dragon and her remaining eggs be returned to their jurisdiction immediately. The species was seriously endangered, and the loss of the eggs considered to be a blow to the effort to maintain a breeding population of the indigenous dragons. The Ministry agreed to these demands without a fight.

 

Two days later, after Hagrid’s constant attention and devoted nursing, Mei Ling was cleared for flight. Her eyes had been healed, and she wanted to leave this place. The other dragons, with Jeanne-Marie’s help, had negotiated a treaty with the Rumanian Ministry, changing the terms of their status within the magical community. They would have equal legal standing to humans. The Druids of Avalon helped write the treaty and gave the dragons communication devices for future use. One of the Bards offered his services as a translator.

 

On the day that Eli and Mei Ling were due to depart, the Welsh dragon went to Jeanne-Marie, bowed, and asked for sanctuary. The Druid lawyers brought out a copy of the treaty that the Ministry had signed with the Fey, which gave Jeanne-Marie rights over any sentient creature who asked for sanctuary, and since it was now established that dragons could communicate, were in all sense of the word, sentient, they must be allowed the same rights, under Rumanian law as well. Since the dragons were considered “property” of the Rumanians, their wishes must be honored. The Rumanian delegation declared that the Welsh Green Dragon, whose name is Blodau Tân, was given free and full permission to go to the Farm, thence to her home range in Wales, where the male Morgans had their original castle.

 

Hagrid knew she had to leave and they would never meet again. He loved her more than any other of the creatures he’d cared for, and she loved him back.

“She says she will name one of the children Rubeus Hagrid,” Eli said. “ A dragon with your name flying free. Think of that when you miss her, she will be thinking of you too.”

  
Hagrid embraced the dragon’s head and kissed her on the forehead. He laid his face along hers, as his tears fell on her face. She crooned at him, as a tear rolled out of her eyes and fell on the top of his head, and was absorbed in his hair, then into his head, straight to his heart.

  
Jeanne-Marie was impressed by this. She was aware of Hagrid’s merit, and his true love of all creatures.

 

Eli soon got ready for the flight. She put on the egg case, strapped it into position, then the saddle, and her gear bag. She put the safety harness on and mounted the dragon. Jeanne-Marie transfigured into her animagus, and they joined Blodau Tân. The group took to the air, heading for the Farm, to the cheers of everyone present.

 

The journey took less time than Eli had anticipated. Mei Ling wanted to get home, and they took a direct route with only one stopover. They got to the temple earlier than expected, but no one there cared much. At last, a dragon back to guard the valley. If the dragons had not been driven out of their range, the daemons would have been vanquished immediately, and the war would have lasted weeks, not two years.

  
That night, a comet streaked across the sky over the mountains. The aurora shown all over the world that night, and the Muggle astronomers were amazed at the celestial displays. A suitable cave was found near the secret pass, and Eli and some of the people of the valley helped Mei Ling set up a nursery for her remaining eggs.

Eli decided to stay for the party the next day. She took videos and still pictures on the memory globe she brought with her. She planned on making a copy for Hagrid. She portkeyed back to the Farm with the gifts the people had given her, saving a necklace made of native turquoise that would make a lovely bracelet for Hagrid, made of stones from Mei Ling’s mountain. He was touched to the point of tears when she presented him the sphere and bracelet.

  
“Bless you, Eli, I didn’t get to have her long, but she will always be in my heart.”


	2. The Yule Ball

Severus carefully put on his formal robes, taking pains with tying the white tie, putting in the black opal studs and cuff links. He brushed his hair, and examined himself critically in the mirror. He walked to the entrance, arriving at the gate just as Eli arrived in a one horse sleigh, wearing an emerald green cloak with the hood pulled up. He put his arm around her and walked her inside, then gracefully swept off her cloak, smiled and said, “You’re wearing the dress Older Sister gave you two years ago for Yule.”

Eli was wearing a purple tulle dress, made of three layers of material in the tightly fitted bodice and full length gored skirt, that floated like mist around her ankles as she moved. She wore a matching tulle stole over her shoulders. Her hair was combed into waves with the mistletoe coronet, she wore the Chaos star earrings, an emerald necklace, emerald cuff bracelets and the diamond snake around her ankle. She smiled back and executed a pirouette, with the translucent fabric floating around her. “I was lucky to have a chance to wear it, you never take me dancing.”

“You never take me dancing either.  At least I take you dancing in your dreams.”

“Next Beltane in Avalon, then! Let’s go see what the Hall looks like. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there.”

 

They entered the Hall, where the band was gathering, as Filch put the final touches on the decorations. Mrs Norris ambled up to Eli, who crouched down to scratch her ears. “It looks wonderful, Mr Filch.”

“Thank you, Miss le Fey, or should I call you Colonel le Fey?”

“Oh, no, no rank when I’m out of uniform.” She reached in her beaded evening bag and withdrew a small jar of catnip blossoms. “Here you are, Mrs N, grown at the Farm for the cats who live there.”

“You’d better give that to me and I’ll give it to her later,” said Filch. “Thank you, she loves it but it does make her a bit loopy.”

“It’s Yule for her, too. Enjoy! This is for you.” She handed him a silk wrapped bundle.

The staff of all of the schools were drifting into the Hall, and Dumbledore stood on the musician’s stage, and announced: “Tonight is a special night for our schools, and let’s not let the children have all the fun. The band will play and we have a chance to dance ourselves while they get ready to put in their appearance. He stepped off the stage, and walked to JeanneMarie, bowed, and held out his hand. She curtsied and they took to the floor. Eli laughed and grabbed Severus’s hand and ran to the center of the floor with him in tow.

Hermione was pacing back and forth near the entrance where Viktor Krum said he would meet her. When she heard the music, she peeked in the door, which had been left ajar. The faculty of the schools were there, most of them dancing with each other. She saw a woman pirouetting, her skirts swirling around her and her partner. Hermione gave a start when she realized it was Professor Snape, smiling at the woman in his arms. Dumbledore was dancing with a tall, slender brunette in a shimmering dress like liquid platinum, black pearls and diamonds in her hair and around her neck, and Magonagall was with a an elegant blond Durmstang drill instructor, Yuri Zhukov, who a lot of the girls at Hogwarts and Beauxbatons admired a great deal. She watched them for a few minutes, when other students began to assemble in the corridor, lining up for their entrance.

The music stopped and the instructors all moved to the tables in the corners to watch the procession of students. Krum was late. She paced back and forth while she waited. Harry, Ron, and the Patil twins came down the stairs. Hermione went over to them. “You won’t believe it, but Snape has a date! He was dancing with her just now and you will never guess who she is.”

“Well, if we’ll never guess you’d better tell us,” said Ron.

“It’s Eli le Fey, you know, the only Faerie who ever attended Hogwarts? The hero of the Tibetan War?”

Harry shook his head. “He finally found a woman meaner than he is.”

The twins said, in unison, “Oh, shut up, Harry Potter!” Professor Trelawney adores her! She gave the professor her Scrying Mirror, and I’ve used it, said Parvati. Padma chimed in, “She’s amazing, do you think we could get introduced to her?”

Ron sneered, “And why would you want to meet that bloodthirsty creature? She’s a necromancer! She could teach Dark Arts to You Know Who! Her animagus is a TIGER! They use POISONED ARROWS! Her horse killed as many as she did … Faerie horses have fangs and venom! That Faerie and her infernal horse even killed Dementors!”

Hermione scoffed. “I read her essays, they’re in a book in the library. Faerie horses don’t have venom but there is a protein in their saliva that causes loss of consciousness and paralysis, and she studies necromancy to make peace with those she has killed in the line of duty and to investigate crimes against righteousness; she carries the Sword Dyrnwyn which means she can’t kill anyone who doesn’t have it coming, and it CAN kill a Dementor!”

“And they use potions on their arrows to kill quickly and mercifully because they have to feel the deaths they cause, you know. They feel it’s more humane to kill without suffering. Don’t believe Rita Skeeter” added Padma.

 

At that point the doors opened up and everyone except Hermione got lined up to make their entrance. By the time Viktor arrived, they were the last couple to enter. She scanned the room. Snape was standing in the corner with some of the professors from each of the three schools, next to the woman in the purple dress. She and Viktor went to the wall where Harry, Ron and the twins were seated. The twins pointed to the corner. “That’s her, isn’t it, Hermione?”

“Yes, in that amazing purple dress. She doesn’t much look like the famous Faerie Commando, does she?”

Viktor looked in the corner. “She looks very different in uniform,” he said.

Neville came to where the group was assembled. “Did you see Snape? He’s smiling!”

“I saw him dancing with that woman earlier,” Hermione said.

“Oh, no, they’re looking at us.”

“Oh, no, they’re heading straight for us.”

 

Dumbledore led Eli to the group. Hermione whispered urgently, “Do not try and approach her, don’t try to touch her, wait until you are spoken to, bow to her, they don’t shake hands.” Viktor came to attention with a snap of the heels as the woman approached the group. Dumbledore smiled genially. Everyone but Ron stood up.

“Eli, may I present Neville Longbottom? Neville, this is Eli le Fey. She was great friends with your mother when they were students.”

Eli smiled at the trembling young man. “I have something for you.” She held out a small silken drawstring bag. “This is a memory globe. It’s pictures of your mother and me here at school and when she visited my family on both sides of the mists.”

Neville tripped over Ron’s feet as he came forward, and Eli caught him by the arm so he wouldn’t fall. “Th .. th …thank you, ma’am.”

“The instructions are written on the inside of the bag, just open it completely. ” Hermione kicked his ankle and he bowed.

“And this is Hermione Granger, Eli smiled at her as she bowed deeply.

“Albus tells me you’re the smartest witch in the school”

“That is a fantastic dress!” “Thank you, my sister got it for me in Paris. Notice how the beads on the hem are charmed to keep the train from dragging on the floor? The skirts float perfectly when I move.”

“Your sister, JeanneMarie le Fey, who wrote the books about training magical creatures?”

“Yes, have you read it?”

“I have my own copy. Hagrid says she’s the best in the business.”

“She is, “ said Dumbledore. “She’s been teaching some classes with Hagrid for advanced students, you know.”

“And this is Viktor Krum.” He bowed.

“I saw you play once,” Eli said. “I don’t know that much about Quiddich but even I could see you’re the best.”

“I am very honored to meet you, Colonel le Fey. I have followed your military career for some time now.”

“Well, don’t believe what you read in the Daily Prophet; that so called War Correspondent never took a sober breath the entire war, and he never left the hotel bar. Got all his stories from anyone who would drink with him.”

“We don’t get that paper at Durmstrang”

“Lucky you,” said Hermione.

“We followed the war from accounts sent back by our own observer ravens.  Is your sister still angry with me?.”

Eli grinned.  "I'd give her a wide berth, if I were you.  But to be sure, if you hadn't hurt Mei Ling, the dragons would all still be captives.  It took the death of those eggs to change the laws, and liberate them.  So you did good, in a bad way."

 

“These are the Patil sisters, Parvati and Padma. “ they bowed even more deeply than Viktor.

“What lovely saris!”

“Thank you” they said in unison. “Professor Trelawney let us look in the mirror you gave her.”

“She must think very highly of you to let you do that. It scares most people.”

“It was scary”

“Sometimes you’ve given these warnings so you can keep your eyes open and avoid it. Divination is not for the faint of heart. I suppose the worst thing about being a seer is when no one listens and the disaster happens, you get to feel smug about being right but that really doesn’t make up for the pain. You’d prefer they would have listened and no one got hurt.”

“Is Yojimbo here?”

“He’s over at The Farm right now. Would you like to meet him? I could ride over after lunch tomorrow and we could visit Hagrid … they’re old friends..” She turned to Harry. “You must be Lily’s son,” she said, looking into his eyes.

“And this is Harry Potter,” said Dumbledore. Eli examined him carefully, her face completely blank. He bowed, and she said,

“I attended classes with your parents. You are very like them.” She then said in Parseltongue, “You’re not alone, you have more friends than you know, you are all heroes.”

She turned to Dumbledore, “We should leave these kids to their dancing.”

“Oh, yes, and this is Ron Weasley.” Eli looked him up and down like a horses dealer checking a spavined nag,

“I should have known, the Weasleys breed true to type,” She waited a beat, and when he did not rise to his feet, she spun around, took Dumbledore’s arm, and they went back to the corner.

“That was rude, Ron,” said Hermione. Neville looked up. “Grandmother says you should never offend a Faerie. They have long memories. Maybe she heard what you said about her, they can do that, they are all legilimens. They never forget a favor nor an insult.”

“And not standing up! Really, Ron, your mother raised you better than that,” scolded Hermione.

 

Harry watched her stop and talk to Luna Lovegood. They were laughing about something. “If she’s a Legilimens, I wonder how she can stand being around Snape.” “Maybe she knows a lot more about him than we do, Harry,” said Neville. “I may have misjudged him.” Neville walked away, and Viktor took Hermione by the hand and they went to dance.

Draco Malfoy sidled up to Severus, and asked if he could introduce him to Eli. “That would not be advisable, Malfoy. During her first term at Hogwarts, she met and beat up your father twice. Your mother was terrified of her, and I don’t think either of them would approve you having any contact with her whatsoever. I would not recommend you ask them about her. And here she comes, you’d best be off.” Draco moved away from the corner quickly, but not fast enough to avoid Eli’s eye.

“Was that the Malfoy whelp?” she asked Severus.

“Yes … _{don’t judge him too harshly, his father beats him and his mother smothers him} [Poor critter. I can’t imagine worse parents than those two, nature or nurture, he’s screwed]._

 

The group was discussing the attributes of different equines and their magical properties when a strident voice cut through the conversation and background music, “Eli le Fey, the Faerie Amazon, or is it the Amazon Faerie?” It was Rita Skeeter.

Eli flinched visibly. JeanneMarie said in a loud voice, “Younger Brother, Younger Sister,let’s go for a walk in the fresh air.” She grabbed Severus’s right arm and Eli grabbed his left, and they walked away without acknowledging Skeeter’s presence.

Skeeter watched them go, scowling, then turned, finger pointed, mouth opened to make a snide comment to the group, only to find they had disbanded and dispersed already.

As they walked by Harry and Ron, Ron said, “Wow, get a load of Eli’s sister … how did Snape get that lucky?”

“It makes me wonder just how neutral the Fey are,” replied Harry. “I can’t see them siding with You Know Who, somehow.”

“I dunno, Harry, sometimes it’s really hard to know who’s on what side.”

 

Before they could leave the Great Hall, Jeanne-Marie stopped and peered at a small group of Beauxbatons students, who were gathered around a girl who appeared to be distraught. “I’m supposed to be chaperoning this, I’d best go see what’s troubling them, probably someone’s date just bailed on her.” She strode off, and Eli and Severus left the hall.

“I have to go meet Karkaroff. Then I’d better patrol for wayward students.”

“Want some help? I’ll go find them and let you know where they are hiding, you go deal with that asshole.” She transformed and immediately faded into the shadows. She trailed him at a safe distance, while noting the location of students attempting to conceal themselves and their amorous activities behind the rose bushes. She listened to their conversation, and watched as Karkaroff returned to the party. _[There are eight students among the rosebushes, the first two are in the row nearest to the wall, three bushes down]_ Severus followed her directions and rousted the students, confiscated a couple of bottles of aqua vitae, in a barely controlled rage. He chased the students back into the building.

Eli transfigured back. “Does that idiot really think he can get away with double crossing the same people he already double crossed? What a fool, he’s not going to live much longer being that stupid, playing such a dangerous game.”

“The only way to deal with Karkaroff is to keep as far away as possible so he can’t drag you over the edge with him.”

She took his hand. “Let’s patrol the grounds and watch the moon.” They strolled around the castle, then returned to the party.

 

At midnight the students were herded out of the hall to their dorms.  Neville immediately went to his bed and shut the curtains, then took out the drawstring bag.  He opened it completely, so the bag formed a cloth circle, and read the instructions written on the cloth.  He held the ball, activated it, and set in on automatic, and the ball activated.  It projected three dimensional images, and he was able to control the size of the images.  He sat entranced as the images formed.  His grandmother didn't have any pictures of his mother before she married his father, and he rarely saw his other grandmother, who did not get along with Gran.  There were pictures of her riding horses at the Farm, at school, in London going to rock concerts with a group of friends, and in Avalon.  She looked so happy.  He cried himself to sleep.  

 

The next day at lunch, Dumbledore announced that Eli le Fey and her horse Yojimbo were at Hagrid’s if any of the students wished to meet him. A group of students soon headed to the gamekeeper’s cottage, where they met several Durmstrang students. All of them brought cameras of some sort. The Durmstrang students were clustered around the fence where Eli had placed her saddle and arms. She was demonstrating the use of each to them, as Hagrid wrestled with Yojimbo. As the Hogwart’s students assembled, Hagrid brought the horse to the students. Eli smiled at the students. “Who can tell me a little about Faerie horses? Hermione?”

“Faerie horses descended from the ancestors of ‘Terran’ horses, but have evolved to become quite different from them. They are omnivores, and have a significantly different digestive system, including the ability to vomit. They have one less back vertebrae and one extra neck vertebrae, their bones are four times as dense, and their brains larger and more complex. Their average lifespan is 100 years. They are very strong and very aggressive. Their saliva contains enzyme that induces unconsciousness and sometimes paralysis.”

“Very good. Any questions?”

Luna Lovegood asked, “How do the equines here get along with Faerie horses?”

Eli patted Yojimbo’s neck. “He’s actually pretty social, but some Terran equines are leery of him, they recognize the kinship but they know how different they are, and they are naturally wary of species that eat meat, since they are prey animals. He respects them and doesn’t approach them. Thestrals get along fine with him, they even play together. The Beaubaton Palominos like him, but they don’t fear any creature. Donkeys and mules treat him pretty much the same as they do their own kind, zebras ignore him completely. Zebras are like that, terribly unfriendly. He really likes hippogriffs and adores Centaurs.”

She put the saddle and other gear on him. “Our gear is based on the United States Cavalry, we use a modification of the McClellan saddle with antigrav magic, and train with Patton’s Saber Exercises. Don’t be afraid of this nag. He loves chocolate and will pose for pictures with you, so appeal to his vanity and sweet tooth. Never try to grab a Faerie horse, and never try to ride one unless you get permission first. From the horse.

"They kill with their hooves and their teeth, preferring to rip out the throat. That is how he killed Dementors. He ripped the entire heads off to make sure they were dead, while trampling them. In battle he wears these,” she said, reaching into a saddlebag “These horseshoes are weapons, they allow him to kick through metal and stone with ease, and anyone he steps on will be shredded. They help him dig out survivors in collapsed buildings, he’s good at sniffing and digging out casualties.”

 “First photo op. I am taking my sword out only once.” She pulled the sword from the scabbard on her belt and held it aloft, as cameras clicked. She sheathed the sword, then strapped it to the saddle. "Only Yojimbo can carry this sword."

“Second photo op. My animagus.” She transformed. The cameras all clicked. She changed back.

“I didn’t know tigers came in that color,” said one of the students.

“It’s a normal, if rare, color variation among Terran tigers, but because the tigers everywhere are being forced into extinction by hunting and loss of habitat due to Terran overpopulation, there may not be any of them left in this realm. The ‘blue tiger’ is thought to be a blessing. According to tradition, if you’re killed and eaten by one you get to come back as one. I don’t know if that’s true but I’m sure it was good luck to be a blue tiger in such an area, your food would come to you willingly. Note in animagus form, my eyes are green. Because of the heightened senses and increase in hunting skills, I use this form when we are on patrol. My color makes it easier to blend into the background in urban settings at night, but I have to be careful not to be seen. We’ve developed blocking devices so we can’t have our pictures taken -- Muggles are putting cameras everywhere – we can’t leave permanent records."

 

"The first time I confronted a pack of Dementors, I was unarmed, so I shifted. Dementors can’t control animals, as I’m sure most of you know. I’d much rather use my sword. I used my teeth to tear its throat out and they taste about as bad as you’d imagine.”

“Why not drive off the Dementors with your patronus?”

“Because the wretched things were in Faerie territory. The Farm is officially a part of Faerie and it’s spelled out in the treaty that any hostile being can be killed on sight. I guess they didn’t know how easy it is for my people and my horse to kill them. They know now and don’t violate our space. I also have the right to kill any creature that is a threat to me or any species in my protection.”

“I thought Dementors couldn’t be killed.”

Eli smiled. “They would like you to think so, I would imagine. Faerie horses never use bridles. They do wear headgear and use weapons attached when in full armor. But now, the headgear is to hold this,” she held up a clear crystal about the size of of a flattened golf ball, “mind gem in place. This allows Terrans to communicate with the horse like a Faerie and establish a mind link.” She put the headgear,. “So, who wants to take a ride? Neville?”

She placed a mindgem on his forehead, and tied a scarf around his head to hold it in place. She took out a chocolate frog from a saddlebag, unwrapped it and gave it to him. “Hold it out on your palm, keep your hand flat. Yojimbo delicately removed the chocolate with his lips and ate it. He sniffed Neville’s face, then gently snorted. “He likes you. You can get on him now.”

He mounted Yojimbo and smiled. “This is amazing, ever so much better than the riding classes Grandmother made me take. It’s strange not to have any reins.”

Eli pulled a memory globe from her pocket, and activated it. “Show the other students how to do a figure 8 with a flying change. Think of the maneuver first . .. pay attention to what he’s thinking. Start when you’re ready.” The memory globe flashed on as Neville rode, . "Excellent, Neville, Piaffe, then extended trot, then back here for a levade.”

Neville rode back to Eli, with a grin on his face. “This is wonderful.”

“Neville, would you handle Yojimbo for me? Introduce him to your classmates, and take pictures, he loves that. Give him all the Frogs he wants. I couldn’t imagine being a soldier without him. Yojimbo’s saved my life more times than I can remember.” The students lined up to have their pictures taken with the horse, who always looked into the camera and posed. They gathered around him, petting him and giving him treats.

Luna Lovegood fed him some treats, had some pictures taken with the horse, and then went over to Eli and Hagrid.  "Is it strange that your horse is a celebrity and you're not?" she asked Eli.  

"No, I don't mind a bit.  'I shun fame; it costs too much.'   People don't recognize me without him.  I rather like that.  You see, no one would talk to the Daily Profit's reporter, and he sent out his photographer, and she did a photo essay on the horses.  Yojimbo is a ham, always curious, loves to be the center of attention, and he got it.   I thought the piece was brilliant.  Sort of a tribute to all the horses in both realms who took it in the shorts for our conflicts, although Faerie horses are even harder to kill than we are.  And they volunteer."  

"Would you talk to my father about the war?"  

"Sure, I like his paper.   I know it's damning him with faint praise to say he's far better than anyone on the Profit.."  

 

Just then JeanneMarie rode up on her horse, Secretariat. Eli hailed her. “Older sister, perhaps you could teach these students more about Faerie horses. She’s the expert. And show them the Palominos. Neville, would you walk me to the gate?” They headed to the entrance. Eli handed him the memory globe.

“How did you know I could ride?” he asked.

She smiled. “I knew your parents. I taught your mother how to ride, and your father was an excellent equestrian, his mother insisted he learn how to ride and dance. I knew she would teach you the same things, and she has. But you weren’t dancing last night, that I saw.”

“I did dance a few times after you left, but I didn’t have a date.”

“Huh. I went to only one party when I was here, and I had to be forced to attend. Severus was nice enough to take me. I know you don’t like him very much, but he is a very good friend of mine. He has his reasons to behave as he does. Sometimes people you think are really nice are the most devious and destructive, and those whom you dislike the most can be your best ally in times of trouble. You never have all the facts; if you wait to act until you do, you’ll never do anything. So, just keep your mind open, but not so open everything falls out, be prepared to change your hypothesis as new evidence comes in and don’t be afraid to challenge your assumptions and what ‘everybody knows is true’. You ever hear of Chaos Theory? It has a lot of applications.”

She took her athame off her belt and traced a sigyl in the air. It created a luminous pattern, seemingly random. “Watch. You also have to remember that people act out of motives you can’t know, for reasons you don’t understand.” The random pattern began to form into a wonderful complex pattern. “See, it’s not random, if you wait to see the big picture.”

 

 

“I saw a picture of you in the Daily Prophet and asked Gran what Faeries were, I told her you looked familiar.“

“I met you when you were very young. You know your father worked with my father until my father was murdered at the Ministry.”

“I read about that. No one wants to go on record about what happened, and all the witnesses dead, disappeared, or like my parents.”

“Exactly. I’m not in very good standing with the Ministry. There are some Faerie sympathizers on staff at that 'hospital', so I can visit them, in disguise, of course. Did you know both of your parents rode this nag of mine?” They reached the doorway. Eli handed Neville the scarf, in which she’d wrapped the mind gems. “Here, keep these, you may need them someday. They work with all equines and a lot of other species. Our secret, of course. Don’t share it with anyone. You can share this,” she said, handing him a copy of Patton’s Saber Exercises. “Have fun. You never know when you may need to use this sort of skill.”

 

 

“Do you think you could possibly get me a copy of the crime report from the Faerie investigation of your father’s murder? I’d like to know who did it.”

“I can, but I will send it on military stationery, meaning that only you can read it. Tell no one except your grandmother. I know she doesn’t want us to have contact for your protection, but things are getting out of control. I’m afraid you and your friends are being forced to grow up entirely too quickly.”

Neville watched Yojimbo galloping out the gate and down the road. The Patil twins ran up to him,

“She really likes you, Neville! She let you ride Yojimbo, and he likes you!” they giggled, as more girls clustered around him. This new and sudden popularity among the ladies increased exponentially when a raven, wearing a dispatch case with the sign of the White Tiger, flew in at dinner and gave him the report.

Ron butted in and demanded to see it. Neville shrugged and handed it to him. “There’s nothing on it!” he blustered.

“No, Ron, that’s how the Guardians send messages, only the one to whom it is addressed can read it. It’s a report done by the investigators in Avalon about the murder of her father at the Ministry. My parents knew him, my father worked with him. She asked me not to discuss this with anyone. So don’t ask me what’s in it.”

Hermione cleared her throat. “Takeshi Morgan, Eli’s father, was murdered, shot in the back, at the Ministry, right in front of the fountain. The case was never solved, and some within the Ministry openly blamed “Muggles” because of the weapon used, a high powered rifle. Lucius Malfoy and his friends called for an immediate expulsion of all Muggleborns from Ministry jobs, even though he’d been on record of disproving of any and all contact with the Fey, and violently opposed any treaty with them, and had threatened Morgan on more than one occasion during treaty negotiations.”


	3. Chapter 3

Neville wanted to learn more about Eli and the Fey. He felt an attraction to her and knew the feeling was mutual. His first step was to search the library, and he discovered that the books about the Fey, Avalon, and records of Eli le Fey’s academic career as well as her essays were in the Restricted section of the library. He went to Prof Magonagall for assistance; he knew that she was acquainted with the Morgans.

  
Minerva wasn’t surprised Neville wanted more information about the Morgans. He’d come to her office on the first day after the winter recess. He brought the memory sphere Eli gave him, set to a picture of Alice, Cordelia, Takeshi, Eli and herself on horseback, and she remembered that day. Severus was taking pictures of everyone. She suddenly felt the weight of all her years, all her losses, the cumulative grief that life always brought with it.

Neville noticed her lower lip was trembling slightly and she began to blink quickly.

“You knew Takeshi, didn’t you? “

“Yes, we were classmates. He was very popular.”

“I’d like to know why all the records about him, and Eli, are hidden. They’ve been removed from all the records I can find, and all of the books about the Fey are on the Restricted list. Would you ask the librarian to allow me to read them?”

Minerva was silent for a minute. “You understand this is a, shall we say, sensitive matter?”

He nodded. “Eli sent me the report from the Faerie investigation. I know what happened. I understand this needs to be handled with extreme discretion. But I need to know.”

“Let’s go talk to the librarian,” Minerva said. She wrote down three names on a small piece of paper. “These were Eli’s friends when she was in school. You already know Rafaela, her younger sister Vivienne had to leave Britain when she wrote some articles that didn’t get censored in time which were quite embarrassing to certain people in the Ministry. Particularly when she outed the activities of certain of the Unspeakables. She’s a journalist covering the Pacific Rim of Fire region. Eleutheria Jones lives on Mount Shasta, part of the same region. Gwydion Morgan, her grandfather, lives in Torayama. This is contact information. Try to take a vacation, see the new year festival on the mountain. Now, let’s go to the library.”  
”  
Minerva persuaded the librarian to trust Neville, and she took them to her inner office. She indicated a section of shelves that had all of the banned books and the originals of the redacted academic records of Takeshi and Eli. She told him that none of the material, or any notes he made, could leave the room. He agreed with her rules, and the two women left him to his research.

Severus was aware of Neville’s research. So was Eli. He was concerned that Neville might inadvertently reveal secrets, but Eli felt he could be trusted; it was clear he was interested in learning about his mother, and he did not reveal his family’s problems to anyone.

“He doesn’t share his parent’s medical condition to anyone. Can you imagine, what it has been like for him, to grow up seeing them like that? It hurts so much to see her, remember the way she was when we were in school?”

“She was my friend, too,” Severus said with a deep sigh. “Having to face that wretched le Strange creature without killing her takes just about all my self control. The fact she is too crazy to know what she’s doing doesn’t make it any less a crime, she is the worst of the most blighted family in Wizardry. Poor Regulus, had to pay for his family’s sins, but at least he tried for redemption.”

  
Eli went to her altar and touched a picture, set in a silver frame, of Alice and Frank on their wedding day. “I try to get to St Mungo’s when I can, when someone can smuggle me past the guards. That’s when the training in shapeshifting really pays off. I can reach her mind, for a few minutes at a time, but not Frank. It’s kind of like, well, you know about electricity, it’s like the spell pulled out all the plugs. There is a spell that stops the heart by blocking the electrical current, it’s similar, but immediately fatal. The wiring just isn’t connected. Their minds are intact. They can’t access most of their brains, that;s the trouble. There doesn’t appear to be any organic damage, but I am not a healer. They need to be taken out of that place, nothing is being done to treat them, they are just left to rot in their beds.”

“What does Older Sister say?”

“She can’t go to them, of course, she is not allowed to practice outside of our Territory, so she just has my reports to go by, but she always says where there is life there is hope, and it’s worth it to try. At least in Avalon they could get some fresh air and exercise, pet the unicorns at the hospital. Maybe when Neville is of age he could get legal custody and he trusts me, he would at least bring them to the Farm where she could take over their cases, call in some specialists.”

“He has to survive the coming storm,” Severus said. “I hope he’s up to the challenge.”

“I can help keep an eye on him. I’ll be spending more time there on the astral plane, when things heat up. I don’t like being at Hogwart’s, I never felt really comfortable there and I have a lot of bad memories.”

“I saw your orders, so now the Crone is your commander?”

“Yes, the Druids elected her to command our activity, since we have to do everything under the radar, so to speak. She directs me and I direct whoever I’m working with. We already have the Embassy guards, I’m working with some of my old Unit, in case any support is needed. Three of the best trained War Druids are part of the group.”

“So the Crone is sure Riddle will be back,” Severus said.

“Inevitably. And soon.”

Neville spent the evening in the librarian’s office, studying the files from the newpapers and journals about the death of Takeshi Morgan. The articles had been removed from the files available to the public.

 

Malfoys. Always Malfoys hanging around when something heinous happened, Neville thought to himself, when he read the original version of the Daily Prophet that had come out the day after the murder. They didn’t know, when they’d murdered the Unspeakables they’d blackmailed into committing the murder, that Faerie criminal investigators were all Necromancers, and that obtaining a confession from those who found themselves at the Crossroads was easy. The problem was to get them to shut up, once they began to confess their sins, they wanted to admit to all of them.

Unspeakables did a lot of things they had to confess.

 

Neville found a copy of the report the College of Druids issued, complaining of the poor academic standards as well as the lack of discipline and control that resulted in several dangerous incidents involving Eli. He found the notes taken during the hearing for Sirius after the Yule party. He resolved to have a private chat with Sirius the next time he was at Grimmaud Place.

Time passed quickly, and he was surprised when Minerva came in the office, to bring him back to the dorm.  
The first thing he said was, “Why did you let Eli and Professor Snape be so abused?”

Minerva pinched her mouth shut and she busied herself putting the files back in order.

“Mistakes were made,” she said.

“I never got to know my mother,” he said, mostly to himself. “I wish I could talk to those who knew her.”

“You can. Just not at Hogwarts, or with anyone outside of your family.”

“I know. What I learn here stays here,” he said. “No one else has a need to know.”

“your mother was one of my best students. She stood up for Eli when everyone was either afraid of her or calling for her people to be banned. Your father was three years ahead, he was in Ravensclaw, one of the top scholars in his class. Eli took it pretty hard when she came back from Tibet and found out what happened to them. Even though she spends a lot of time at the Farm, right across the lake, she doesn’t come here, too many bad memories, I suppose. I was surprised to see her at the party. Her older sister probably made her show up. We’d best be getting back to the dorm, Neville.”

As they were leaving, the librarian turned and nodded at Neville. He noticed there was a picture of Takeshi Morgan on her desk, one of the few personal items on the neat surface. He smiled at the lady and wished her a good night. He and Minerva discussed the Quiddich teams during the walk back to the dorm. He walked back to his bed deep in thought. He pulled the curtains and set up the memory sphere, watching the pictures until he was tired enough to sleep.

 

Jeanne-Marie wanted to stay away from Hogwarts when she found out what was going to happen. She didn’t feel safe on Terra, unless she was at the Farm or on Torayama. She had a lot more sympathy for her younger sister. It must have been horrible for her.

She told Madame Maxime she was going to stay with her family at the Farm and finish the books she was writing, and conduct a class with Hagrid and the Master of the Magical Creatures from Durmstang for advanced students. She had spent her youth in Avalon, then on Torayama while attending Mahoutokoro; she had nothing against Terrans, in general. This place was different, she didn’t feel safe with anyone from the Ministry, neither did Grandfather Gwydion.

Cordelia Morgan understood why her son felt the need to stay far away from his father, and was glad he was in a safe place, where the fallout from the coming storm could not harm him.

 

Eli had to take more time cruising Hogwarts and looking out for Neville. It wasn’t difficult; unlike Harry Potter, Neville followed the rules, showed up on time, and did what he was asked. She’d placed a tracer charm on him so she would always know where he was, and his emotional state read from a distance. She’d tried to teach Severus how to use the magic on Harry, to make his job easier, but Severus couldn’t do the spell correctlyH. He was working on it.

  
During their school days, Severus, Alice, Vivienne, and Eleutheria practice martial art magic as well as other weaponry. They would duel, to help Eli develop better reflexes. Severus caught her only once working alone, and rarely when the girls helped him. Eli was able to fight all of them at once. She trained them with the protective spells that Terrans didn’t know would deflect or diminish all of the “Unforgiveable Curses.”  
“You use the intent of the one using it to have it blow back in their face,” she explained. “Or it grounds it using your body as a conduit to earth, kind of like Muggle electricity.” They also played horseback sports used by cavalry to improve the skills of the fighting horses and their riders. Severus quickly became the best rider of the Terrans. u  
Eleutheria was astounded how quickly he learned to ride. “You’ve been riding for a year and you’re already better than me. You sure are a lot more than anyone across the lake knows.”

  
He smiled. “That’s because I had the best teachers, you and Eli.”

 

How things had changed since then, Severus thought. Eleutheria rarely came to the Farm anymore; she stayed out of Britain completely. Every now and then he and Eli would got to Mount Shasta, then take the Pacific Starlight to San Francisco to hear bands or go to the Opera, and the Ballet. San Francisco Ballet had gotten to be the best of the companies across the world under the leadership of Helgi Tomasson. The bands had all been driven ont during the economic cleansing propagated by the politicians and monied interested, led by Diane Feinstein. The witches who had populated the area were also driven out, so there was less reason to visit the City. Eli loved the Giants and went to games when she could. They both were getting too busy to get away from Hogwarts, now.

The shit was about to hit the fan.

  
Everybody knew it but no one wanted to talk about it. They wouldn’t use the ridiculous name Tom Riddle had made up, like a child playing Scrabble and making up words, nor would they use his given name, as Eli always did. Tommy Riddle, the scourge of wizardry, the current number one most wanted criminal.

  
The Ministry and their Aurors were like the Keystone Kops, led by Inspector Clouseau, chasing Professor Moriarty. It was inevitable that the madness would destroy his plans for world domination, it never works, causes nothing but suffering, mostly by noncombatants and those who never had a stake in the game. Riddle would defeat himself, rather than have the Ministry, their minions (who played both sides, to hedge their bets), and Albus’s Acolytes defeat him.  
It was “Written in the Stars,” after all.  
http://www.martinturnermusic.com/#!newslatest/mainPage


	4. Chapter 4

Eli curled up on the hearth rug after using the floo to get to Severus's sanctum sanctorum, only he could enter. He'd set the floo so only Eli could use it, just in case of times like this.

 

He smiled at her.

“Thanks for coming over, I have to be here and I need you to monitor things on the astral plane. You know about the final trial? It's been rigged. I don't know how. The winner will be killed and Riddle will be back. Pettigrew is the vessel, he was the one who betrayed Lily and her family.”

He rubbed the silken sleeve of his shirt over the mark. “I never told you what happened the night I got this. You never asked and I know you never read my mind, you know I'm good enough now in mentalics to trace any probes,” he said, sitting next to her. He lit a Faerie fire and doused the lamp on his desk.

 

“I had to do it, to ensure that Riddle never detected the bond between Regulus and me. I didn't know what happened to him, and Riddle had suspected he was betraying him, and allowed me to take credit for the disappearance . . . the best cover was to let him put the mark on me, so he would trust me . . . . Rhiannon told me later and we just didn't want to discuss the matter with anyone, and no one wanted to tell you while you were at war, we all swore secrecy.”

“The Black Turtles found some Death Eaters tailing Rhiannon and they were . . . forcibly reprogrammed and sent home with blank mind. That is the punishment for violating the Treaty with the Rim of Fire. They knew the risks. They just weren't good enough, they got caught. Espionage is a dangerous game, it's a lot more dangerous if you're stupid, and that's the fatal flaw with zealots, they don't realize just how stupid they are.”

He touched the ring on his left hand.

“Until I got this ring from you, my mind was almost splitting, it's just about impossible to avoid the Groupthink that always ends up a weakness. I have to maintain cover at all costs. Riddle can be quite intellectually seductive, he can find anything he can exploit in another person.”

“I know,” Eli said, putting her hand over the mark.

“It worked, Riddle trusts me, more than he trusts anyone, which isn't all that much. He let me release Alice and Frank, after what his inamorata Bellatrix did to them, some sort of horrible sexually related ritual, I'd rather not speculate about that.”

Eli snorted derisively. “She was a foul one, the dark side of sex magic, touched by daemonic forces. At least she didn't make her mother's mistake and reproduce. Her sister Narcissa made a deal with her genetic destiny, as it turns out, the Malfoys have malfunctioning X chromosomes, caused by a Faerie curse upon the manhood of the patricidal Malfoys, that they never bear daughters. As it turned out, Narcissa miscarried female embryos, and every generation of Malfoy males eventually destroy either father or son, patricide and fratricide. Only one with Faerie blood can lift the curse.”

 

Severus laughed. “I don't suppose you'd help. The drama must be amusing, over time. They keep good records in Avalon, don't they? You know that Draco has been spying on Older Sister and you, he's fascinated. And jealous of Neville for your attention to him.”

“So you earned your mark by taking credit for a disappearance not even Riddle could puzzle out . . . not to mention how he bought your Machiavellian explanation of why it was better to release Frank and Alice as a warning, let them see what it's like to be hit with Bellatrix's perverse dlui'fulla, they would have to be hidden and not talked about, like Dumbledore's sister, hidden away, much better than dead martyrs.” Riddle had to agree. He appreciated how Severus's mind worked.

 

_Tom liked how Eli thought. He'd read her paper on 'hybrid vigor' and how it seemed to affect magical Terrans, after all, look at her, her sister, Severus, and of course, himself, all far better than the 'purebreds' in all ways. True, the purebreds tended to have the money and the power, just handed to them, they didn't have the ability to take it for themselves. As long as you flattered them for their ancestry and let them think they were in charge, they were useful tools._

_Tom was amused by Severus's obsession with “the one that got away” and teased him about the Potters. “What will your Faerie girlfriend say about you and Potter's whore?”_

_Severus smiled with his mouth only. “You know how Faeries are, and how Eli looks when she's in animagus form, as long as I share, and give her someone to play with, you know, like how you keep Bellatrix in line.”_

_Tom laughed. “Figured it was something like that with the two of you.”_

 

“I've got to get to the stands, not that there is much to see. You shadow Harry in the maze.”

Eli removed her boots and lay down on the bed and pulled the curtains closed.

She saw what happened in the Maze, saw Cedric's death, watched the ritual that Pettigrew performed, including chopping off his own hand, to bring Riddle into a body. She flew threw the astral plane to Severus, entering his body and transmitting the visual and audio memories to his mind.

 

Minerva had the presence of mind to send an owl to Cordelia, who immediately sent for a coffin to send with the caisson drawn by two Thestrals, and transport the Cedric's body with his family to their home. Tabby brought supplies to help out the house elf at the Diggory's home. For the next 24 hours, there would be a wake, then Cedric would be buried where he loved to watch the sun set, on a hill above his home.


	5. Final Test of the Tournament

Eli was not alone shadowing Harry in the maze. Lily was there, in the company of the High Priestess. There would be a Summoning of Shadows, always a result when huge amounts of power are used to get around the parameters of magic and death. Lily joined James and the others, since he'd been given the ability to see shadows, and didn't know the difference between a Shade and an Astral Body. 

Lily watched Pettigrew with distaste, contempt, disgust but not anger. She realized that he was living in his self created hell, he made bad choices for all the wrong reasons and refused to learn from them. His betrayal of his only friends tainted his soul beyond redemption; it would take several incarnations to clean up the mess. Sometimes in a single incarnation, the oversoul can be shattered into fragments, and must be rebuilt bit by bit, in different life forms over generations. 

Lily felt Psyche Diggory's pain. Lily remembered her, she'd been a few years older and was learning MindHealing, and was everyone's Big Sister, always with a shoulder to cry on and a friend who would help you learn, grow, and heal from psychic trauma, from losing a loved one to being stood up a dance. She had a true gift for it. She was named after her great aunt, Psyche Firestone, the Muse of Karl Jung. After graduating a year early from Hogwarts she went to Prague to study, publishing papers on curing certain curses that induced madness. She had a private practice, refusing to work at St Mungos, since her methods were called into question, despite her 100% success rate. She didn't agree with simply warehousing the infirm and afflicted, keeping them out of sight. 

 

Eli returned to her body after relaying the information to Severus, pulled her boots on as she received a mirror message from Cordelia, asking her to bring Yojimbo with the Thestrals and the caisson, her services were needed. She and Severus were to bring Cedric, along with his parents and Luna Lovegood, back to Ottery St Catchpole for interment. 

Xeno Lovegood was handling the arrangements for his neighbors, and Molly Weasely went into high gear preparing food, knowing that there would be a huge turn out for the ceremony. Arthur had been warned by Xeno that Cordelia and the le Fey sisters had been invited by Psyche Diggory, and he informed his wife that no breaches in protocol would be allowed. 

 

“Don't try to play the bride at the funeral,” he warned. “This is not your loss.”

 

Eli quickly got the supplies on the caisson, got dressed in ceremonial robes, and was met by Jeanne-Marie with a Palomino, pulling a closed cart with room enough for Amos, Psyche, Luna, and Cordelia. Yojimbo and Patton led the way to Hogwarts, where a semblance of order had been imposed. Cho Chan was hugging Psyche as they cried over the young man both had loved. Amos held a sobbing Harry Potter. 

Luna went to greet the Thestrals. “Could I ride on the caisson?” she asked Eli. 

“Sure,” Eli replied. 

“He's still here, isn't he?”

“Yes, hovering right over the body. Can you see him?”

“I see something.” 

 

A group of students from all three schools removed the coffin from the caisson and carried it to Cedric. He was laid tenderly inside, along with his favorite broom and the snitch he'd won against Harry. 

 

When the sun set, Eli portkeyed with Yojimbo to St Ottery, and the caisson prepared to leave. 

Luna sat on the lashed down coffin, saying to Cho, “I've known him all my life, he was the one who showed me how to fly a broom, climb a tree, ride a horse, he said I was the little sister he never wanted but glad I was here for him . . .” as her ice blue eyes teared up. “Our mothers were good friends and we grew up together.” 

 

Cho joined Harry, Psyche and Amos Diggory in the coach. Jeanne-Marie transformed into a phoenix and then flew up into the loaming. 

 

Cordelia introduced herself to Harry, saying, “I would ask a favor of you, Mr. Potter, could you allow my great granddaughter to take your memory of the maze to show his family what happened? There is no use of you reliving it by retelling it, Luna, dear, could you take Mr Potter to the kitchen and explain to him about a Hekate's Dinner?” She returned to the entry way where she was helping the house elf greet the extended family who would sit with Cedric until he was brought to the family burial site. 

 

Eli stepped forward, with a willow wand in one hand and a vial in the other. She touched her wand to his third eye and a mist came out, which Eli captured into the vial. 

Harry looked at Eli carefully. He could understand why Snape liked her. She was beautiful, in the same way a tiger was beautiful. Her eyes were amazing, like a faceted amethyst lit from behind with an aurora of colors, reflecting light like a cat's. 

 

Luna smiled at him, took his arm and led him to the kitchen, sat him down and described the ritual of a Hekate's Dinner. 

“You spent a lot of time here when you were little, didn't you?” Harry asked. He didn't have an appetite but he went through the motions of eating. 

“Yes, we used to play here, I know the grounds here as well as my own place,” she responded. “Eat up. Sometimes one of the Weasely boys would come over, but Mrs W never approved of my parents, so we didn't socialize much with them. Ginny's all right, and I always liked Percy.” 

“So you know the Morgans and the Faerie women,” Harry said, trying to come up with a topic that didn't involve reliving what he'd just endured. 

“Yes, they came when my mother died, Cordelia Morgan helped get my father in business, you know. He was putting out a school paper when Takeshi Morgan started at Hogwarts and she encouraged him, even bailed him out when the Aurors were questioning him about an incident he'd written of.”

Pomona arrived and joined them. “I brought his medals with me,” she said. “As soon as the Family is done watching your memory, we can all join the wake. So nice of Cordelia and the le Fey women to help, Harry, did you know that necromancers trained in Faerie methods can escort the spirit to the afterlife? Rather like an individual version of the Wild Hunt, more like a walk to the crossroads, something we all have to do, eventually, it was just too soon for that poor dear one,” as her voice cracked and tears flowed again. Cedric had been such a love of a boy, strong, handsome, intelligent, athletic. . . she ran out of superlatives to describe what he'd been like. 

“I remember, so many times, sitting at this table with Cedric, my whole life,” Luna said quietly. “He's here now, you know,” she said, looking across the table to a spot over Harry's head. 

 

They heard the approach of the Weasely clan as they came up the walkway to the kitchen door, all bearing covered dishes and trays. Molly had done herself proud, keeping herself busy enough to burn off any edges to her personality. When she entered the kitchen, she broke the silence of the mourners exclaiming over Harry, literally pushing Luna aside. Luna smiled as Percy rolled his eyes at his mother's conduct. 

Everywhere that Molly went, she became the center of attention, by her own design. She went straight for Harry, smothering him with hugs, tugging at his clothes, babbling about how brave he was, which gave Luna and Ginny cover to sneak out of the kitchen and out to the garden. Percy saw them leave, wishing he could be with them, but he and his father were required to keep an eye on Molly.

Molly got her way and Harry was to go back with them to the Burrow after he'd had a chance to talk during the wake. The twins, for once, were subdued and quiet. They had been friends with Cedric forever, it seemed. Even though he was a little younger, he could keep up with them in games, often beating them when they cheated. He took their pranks in good humor, laughed with them and at them. Facing mortality was difficult; they were` in the stage of life where they were going to live forever. 

 

Arthur took the loss hard. He'd always admired Cedric, who'd gotten the best from both parents. He was always good friends with Amos Diggory, since they were from the same village and about the same age, although their life paths had diverged significantly, they were still the best of friends.

Their wives, on the other hand, did not get along very well at all. 

Percy took charge of the food they'd brought with them, setting up a buffet service on the table, as the door opened to the dining room, where Cedric was lying in state, dressed in his best formal robes, with his badges displayed, broom at port arms, his wand in his front pocket. Pomona approached the coffin and placed the goblet he'd won in the Triwizard Tourney beside him. 

Molly decided that Harry was in need of a mother's touch and comandeered him, her arm around his shoulders, escorting him to the coffin for final words. Harry broke free and went to the Amos and Psyche, took them by the hands, and told them of his generosity, how he helped everyone, until he was choking with tears. Molly then grabbed him again, announcing he was worn out, needed sleep, and he'd be back tomorrow. 

Fred and George said they would have one last sleepover with their friend, and would stay with Cedric until he was laid to rest. They could sense his presence; everyone could, on some level. Molly grabbed Ginny with the hand she didn't have on Harry and left out the front entrance, with Arthur tagging behind. Percy would go home after he'd seen to food, as more of the extended families arrived, including Great-Aunt Psyche Firestone, for whom Mrs Diggory was named. She joined Jeanne-Marie with Cedric's parents, helping them drain off the shock and begin to grieve the loss. Cordelia brought them tea with some psychic tonic Severus had made to help with sudden death of a loved one. It didn't kill the pain, just made it easier to cope with. 

 

Molly gave them all special tea to help them sleep. Harry was beyond exhausted, literally shaking in his boots. He'd eaten enough food, now he needed rest and quiet. He slept for twelve hours, dreaming of Cedric, replaying the Tournament. He woke up, and was dragged into the bathroom, told to get cleaned up, Albus had already stopped by with his most formal robes, wasn't that nice of him? 

Percy had returned with empty dishes which Molly set about to clean and refill, then she her eldest son would return to the gathering. For the entire day, people came to the house, talking about their memories of Cedric growing up. When it came time to lay Cedric to his rest, Severus and Albus arrived, to walk behind the coffin. Yojimbo came along, carrying pannier baskets heaped with flowers from the wake. 

The burial mound was a place of ancient magic, where the dead of many species had been given back to the earth. 

 

The procession traced a spiral path the top of the mound, where a open vault of Purbeck marble, was waiting. Each generation of those who had held the land since neolithic times, when magic was being taught to those here before the Picts began the custom of interment, then hauling earth and creating terraced gardens, with memorials stones in Runic and Elven. Familiars and horses were interred with their companions in life. 

 

When the sun hit the horizon, the coffin was lowered into the vault, and mourners filled it with memorial crystals, flowers and herbs, and the top slab lowered. Cedric's name, date of birth and death were engraved in the stone slab. The vault was set so the top slab was level with the ground. When the vault was filled with the coffins, the next generation would bring rocks and dirt, to cover it, planting gardens underneath standing stones. 

Eli shimmered as her body was sent to escort Cedric to the Crossroads to meet Hekate. Luna noted her amulet. To most eyes, it appeared to be a disc of a material that diffracted light like an opal, translucent, and looked to have more depth if you gazed directly at it. The stone was held in place with three arcs that crossed the face of the stone, made of Faerie metal. Luna noticed that if you looked at the crystal out of the corner of her eye, it was three dimensional, and looked to be embedded in her flesh, but moved freely on its chain. That was some powerful magic, she knew, far beyond the ability of anyone at her school to comprehend. 

The amulet was a multidemensional key, which among other things allowed her safe passage to other realms, including the realm of the dead. 

Eli and Cedric entered a place where there is no time, the path they were on illuminated by the tears being shed for him transformed into ghost candles with sparkling crystal flames. 

“I'm sure you'll be sent back soon,” Eli said. “Probably even earn the right to ask your mother and name your father, so choose well. Here we are.” She bowed deeply as the Goddess appeared with a torch in her hand, her hounds wagging their tails, bounding up to Cedric to greet him. 

 

Eli reappeared in a shower of sparks almost as soon as she disappeared, in the realm of the living, where time was linear. Eli and the Hogwarts students and staff left the mound, returning to school where the students were gathering their belongings, in a sorrowful mood. Romances between members of different schools broke up with promises to keep in touch.


End file.
